RPAGF Chapter 161 He really is a ruthless person!
Chapter 161 He really is a ruthless person!
"Father, you don't understand..."
Lin Qingchuan immediately interrupted, "Alright, that child looks so quiet. He has so many injuries, yet he hasn't uttered a sound. He's so patient; he must be capable. Once he's healed, we can talk to him slowly. You hurry up and prepare lunch. After we finish eating, I'll get this done quickly so we can go back to the village to check on the fields sooner."
Lin Xiaotang could only pout and say, "Alright then, I'll go cook first."
Liu stood up, took her eldest daughter's hand, and gently advised, "Tang'er, you used to complain that your stepmother tormented us, treating your parents like cattle and horses, working from morning till night. Your parents have endured those hard times, so we know the bitterness of it. Even you and Yu'er, at such a young age, have done a lot of work."
Although we bought Jiu'er, we can't just treat him like a servant. As long as he's diligent, capable, and obedient, we'll treat him as family. Do you understand?
Lin Xiaotang thought her parents were too foolish. She even began to regret buying Xiao Jiu because of her momentary soft heart. What if he was cunning? Wouldn't he be able to deceive her honest parents completely?
After only one day of getting to know him, his parents are already treating him like family?
There's really no need to be so extravagant, is there?
She said with some worry, “Mother, I understand what you and Father mean. We have come from hard times. You and Father are not used to treating Jiu’er, whom we bought, as servants. You think that as long as Jiu’er is obedient and capable, you should treat him like family. But what if he is not pure and kind-hearted?”
We just bought him, and we don't know him well yet. We can't completely distrust him, but we also can't be completely careless. Mom, do you understand what I mean?
Liu smiled and said, "Of course I understand what you mean. But since we bought him, we should get along with him. As long as we get to know him and find that he is a good person and good to our family, we will treat him as family."
If he's really cunning and secretly harbors other intentions, then we can just send him back, right?
So it turns out Mother understands all these principles. If Mother understands, then Father must know too. She thought her parents were too kind and had no sense of self-preservation. It seems she underestimated them.
After running a business for more than half a year, her parents have seen the world and have gradually grown and improved. Seeing that her parents are no longer blindly filial and timid, but have more confidence and consideration, she is extremely happy.
So she smiled and said cheerfully, "Mom, I understand. Don't worry, I definitely won't treat him like a servant. You and Dad wait a little longer, I'll go make lunch now."
Xiaoyu came back from Grandma Xing's house next door. Recently, she had become familiar with Grandma Xing's five-year-old granddaughter, so she would occasionally go to her house to play for a while. When she saw that her father and older sister had returned, she first called out to her older sister, then ran to her father's side, hugged his neck, and sweetly called out to him.
Lin Xiaotang went to the small vegetable garden and picked some scallions and some greens. She made three dishes: scallion and egg, stir-fried pork slices, and a green vegetable dish. After the rice was cooked, she first ladled out a bowl, put some of each dish on top, poured some of the pork broth on top, left the bowl of rice in the kitchen, and took the rest to the yard.
She started brewing Xiao Jiu's medicine before going out to eat, and naturally, she quickly finished her meal. After eating, she immediately returned to the kitchen.
Lin Xiaotang picked up the cold food on the ground next to Xiao Jiu, picked up the freshly made lunch, squatted down next to Xiao Jiu, and nudged her.
No response, just ignore her!
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said in a sweet voice, "Jiu'er, dinner is ready."
Still no response!
Lin Xiaotang pushed him with even more force, saying, "You didn't eat breakfast, at least eat lunch. You'll need to take your medicine when it's ready. You can't take medicine on an empty stomach. This medicine cost money, you can't waste it."
Xiao Jiu opened her eyes and turned to stare at Lin Xiaotang.
The little girl had just scolded him, but now she was softening her tone and urging him to eat. It was all because her parents had scolded her; he had overheard them talking in the yard.
Seeing that he remained silent, Lin Xiaotang didn't have time to argue with him. She put down her rice bowl and went to help him up.
"I'll help you sit up, you can eat by yourself."
Anyway, he ate it by himself yesterday.
But no sooner had she reached out than her hand was slapped away before she could even touch him.
Lin Xiaotang was truly enraged this time. She glanced at the window facing the courtyard, lowered her voice, and gritted her teeth, saying, "Xiao Jiu, don't go too far. My parents are simple and honest, not stupid. If you still can't understand your place, then I'll have no choice but to sell you back to Granny Chen."
Sure enough, Xiao Jiu's eyes flickered. Whether it was fear or something else, he forced himself to sit up with difficulty and picked up his rice bowl to eat.
Lin Xiaotang smiled slightly and couldn't help but nod, "That's right, wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier?"
Despite his injuries, he ate slowly and methodically, which did not affect his demeanor at all.
After he finished eating a bowl of rice, Lin Xiaotang took away the bowl, poured a bowl of the medicine that was almost ready, and handed it to him.
"Hey, blow on it and drink it while it's hot."
Xiao Jiu didn't reach out to take it. It was unclear whether he didn't want to drink it or wanted her to wait for the medicine to cool down. In any case, it was clear that Xiao Jiu was a quiet person.
Once the medicine had cooled down a bit, she picked up the bowl and handed it to him. "It's not hot anymore, drink it quickly. I have things to do after you finish."
Xiao Jiu rarely spoke, but he asked quietly, "What are you busy with?"
"Of course it's washing the pots and pans. My dad's working in the yard, and my mom's pregnant. If I don't wash the dishes, are you going to do it for me?"
It's just washing dishes, what's so difficult about that?
So Xiao Jiu nodded, with a reassuring expression, and said, "I'll help you wash when I'm healed."
After saying that, he took the medicine bowl, closed his eyes, and drank it all in one gulp.
Lin Xiaotang was stunned. She hadn't added any sugar to the bitter medicine, yet he had drunk it all in one go. He really was a ruthless person!
After he finished drinking and put down his bowl, she immediately helped him lie down again and went to wash the pots and pans.
After she finished her work, Liu called her over to talk.
"Tang'er, look at Jiu'er's clothes. They're tattered and torn, and he's been whipped so badly that they're full of holes. He doesn't have a change of clothes either. I'm thinking, why don't we go to the shop and get some cloth to make him a couple of sets of clothes? What do you think?"
Lin Xiaotang said approvingly, "Mom, that's a great idea. His clothes are so tattered they're unusable. Making him two sets to alternate wearing will definitely work. Let's go to the shop now and buy some so you can make them slowly. Once he's healed, he can wear them and go with me to the county to deliver goods."
The family's money was hidden under the bed where Lin Xiaotang and her sister slept. Lin Xiaotang quietly took out half a tael of silver, told her father, and then the mother and daughter went out.
They went to the most affordable fabric shop in town to buy fabric, which was also the first shop they bought from after they became rich. They bought a light blue cotton cloth, a gray-blue cotton cloth, and a black cotton cloth.
Liu planned to make two pairs of shoes for Jiu'er and two pairs for her husband using black cotton cloth. After the baby was born in a few months, she would no longer have time to do needlework.